Anyone thinking the hype wasn't justified found out in the second half why schools like Connecticut, Notre Dame and South Carolina all want her to play for them in two years.

Brunelle scored 29 points in the second half, helping Monroe rally from a double-digit deficit midway through the third quarter to knock off Wilson 53-48 in the Play for Preemies Showcase at Western Albemarle High School.

The Monroe junior finished the game with 39 points and 23 rebounds in the win.

Just before the start of the third quarter, Monroe coach Jess Stafford pulled her superstar aside and told her she was capable of taking over the game, and she believed she would do that.

William Monroe's Sam Burnelle dribbles at the top of the key Saturday night against Wilson ...more

William Monroe's Sam Burnelle dribbles at the top of the key Saturday night against Wilson Memorial. Brunelle had 39 points in Monroe's win.

Patrick Hite/The News Leader

"That gave me a little extra motivation on the court," Brunelle said. "That definitely helped fire me up and get me going in the second half."

After Monroe's Iyanna Carey scored to get her team within nine early in the third, Brunelle did take over, scoring the next 15 points for the Greene Dragons and cutting the Wilson lead to one after three quarters.

Brunelle then scored to open the fourth, giving the Dragons a lead it didn't relinquish.

"She's a really good player," Wilson's Sarah Sondrol said. "It was cool. She was really tough to stop."

Sondrol didn't embarrass herself in the matchup, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. In the third quarter she scored seven points in a row to stretch the Hornets' lead to 37-25.

Wilson Memorial's Cheridan Hatfield (34) led Wilson with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Hornets loss to William Monroe.

Patrick Hite/The News Leader

"In the first half they weren't moving as fast as we thought they would," said Wilson's freshman Korinne Baska, who had 10 points in the loss. "They came out in the third quarter, just coming strong, pushing the ball hard, getting it down in the paint."

Wilson coach Jackie Bryan had seen game film of the Dragons and said Brunelle tended to get stronger as the game goes on, often dominating the second half of games. She told her team to be ready for that, but being ready for it and stopping it are two different things.

It didn't help that it was Wilson's third game in four days — the Hornets beat East Rockingham and Buffalo Gap earlier in the week — and Cheridan Hatfield was playing on a bad ankle.

Hatfield, who scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds, said the ankle was sore after the game as she limped out of the gym.

"I was really pleased with a lot of the things that we did," Bryan said. "We were not as mentally tough down the stretch as I wanted us to be."

Stafford said she had "a nice chat" with her team at halftime, but there was no yelling or screaming. She just tried to calm her team down.

"We were a little overly excited to play this game," Stafford said. "They just needed to take a breath and play possession by possession. Chop wood, carry water is our motto. Basically what that means is do the dirty things that equate success."

The Monroe coach felt her team did more of that in the second half.

Even once the lead got away, Wilson had a chance to tie late. Wilson freshman LeAnna Rankin hit a 3-pointer to cut the Monroe lead to 51-48. Then, once the Hornets got the ball back, Sondrol had a look at another 3, but couldn't get it to go down.